Repeal warning against Ales Bialiatski - Stop persecution of civil society activists in Belarus

Open Letter to the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka and to the General Prosecutor of Belarus, Ryhor Vasilevich

We are deeply concerned by the information that the prominent human rights defender Mr. Ales Bialiatski on February 16 received an official warning from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus.

According to the warning Mr. Bialiatski risks being prosecuted because of  his work on behalf of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”.

We would like to remind You that the dissolution of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” by the Supreme Court of Belarus in October 2003 was considered as a violation of Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by the UN Human Rights Committee.

Although the Committee recommended the Belarusian government to secure re-registration of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, repeated tries to register the organisation have failed.

We would also like to remind You that the Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, which provides for criminal liability for activities on behalf of an unregistered organisation, obviously contradicts both the Constitution of Belarus and the ICCPR, which is ratified by Belarus.

The common practice of Belarusian authorities to deny independent organisations official registration and the criminalisation of civil society activists working on behalf of unregistered organisations constitute an unacceptable limitation of the right to freedom of association.

Therefore, we urge You to:

- Repeal the warning issued against Mr. Ales Bialiatski
- Stop the persecution of civil society activists in Belarus
- Abolish the Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of RB
- Put an end to the practice of denying independent organisations official registration

Yours sincerely,

Sofia Uggla, chair, Östgruppen – the Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights

Martin Uggla, chair, Östgruppen – the Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights 

Stockholm 17.02.2011